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WHAT MAKES A GAME WORTH MAKING?
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Ashes of Emerald
2573
Ashes of Emerald
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CloseHello RMN Community,
Just was curious to hear your thoughts on the core fundamentals that define wether a game is worth developing or not. What guidelines would you suggest? What creed do you live by? Is there a checklist that you run your projects through to ensure that your ideas, story and mechanics are up to spec, to ensure that the story is worth telling? The game is worth playing/making? To ensure that development isn't a waste of time?
Please comment. :)
Just was curious to hear your thoughts on the core fundamentals that define wether a game is worth developing or not. What guidelines would you suggest? What creed do you live by? Is there a checklist that you run your projects through to ensure that your ideas, story and mechanics are up to spec, to ensure that the story is worth telling? The game is worth playing/making? To ensure that development isn't a waste of time?
Please comment. :)
I think that a game is worth releasing if it gives the player a new experience. If I think a game I make is going to give people a new, good experience then I will make it. I will make the one that I think has the most promise and achievability to have an effect on them. The one that I think will turn out to be the best game that I can make. It's just a personal judgement, really.
First rule of thumb for me: Is is fun to play? After all, you're making a game, unless it's a VN or something that requires no gameplay. Prioritise that over everything else, and if you're making a JRPG, your characters/story/world-building should be next.
After all, the story is basically the reward for the player after all that hours of slogging through dungeons, seeking out rare equipment, fighting nail-biting boss fights etc. No matter how pretty a game is, if it's storyline is shoddy is can still be saved by great game mechanics, but not vice-versa.
Or if you want an example of how not to design a JPRG, just pick up any game designed by Kawazu ( of the infamous FF2 ( not FF4, the original FF2 ).
After all, the story is basically the reward for the player after all that hours of slogging through dungeons, seeking out rare equipment, fighting nail-biting boss fights etc. No matter how pretty a game is, if it's storyline is shoddy is can still be saved by great game mechanics, but not vice-versa.
Or if you want an example of how not to design a JPRG, just pick up any game designed by Kawazu ( of the infamous FF2 ( not FF4, the original FF2 ).
Sviel
2006
I think that's pretty subjective. Some people make games others want to play while some people make games because they would want to play them, and then there's everything in between.
UPRC
5516
I get a story idea in my head that I think sounds good, then I try to make it into a game. If I realize in a day or two (of actual game work, not brainstorming) that I won't be able to stick with it, I don't.
See, I'm a simple man.
See, I'm a simple man.
nurvuss
958
Ultimately, because you want to. Even if you don't do what you set out to, or even if you outright fail, it's experience under your belt.
WonderPup
50
I'm running this same question through my head over and over again. I believe that the project I'm working on is worth spending the time to complete. The issue is in deciding which medium is the best suited for presentation. I would love to make it into a game, but I feel that there's way too much dialog to do so.
I'll probably have to change gears and make it into a comic/graphic novel/hybrid thing instead. But if I do that, I'll lose the ability to add music. I could make it into a visual novel, but I don't know that people would want to sit through something like that.
Do people enjoy playing through a visual novel?
I'll probably have to change gears and make it into a comic/graphic novel/hybrid thing instead. But if I do that, I'll lose the ability to add music. I could make it into a visual novel, but I don't know that people would want to sit through something like that.
Do people enjoy playing through a visual novel?
SnowOwl
5188
The smiles on the children as they play your game.
@WonderPup
Yeah, sure, if it's well written.
Visual Novels have gained in popularity the last years, so I think there are plenty of people that would enjoy it.
@WonderPup
Yeah, sure, if it's well written.
Visual Novels have gained in popularity the last years, so I think there are plenty of people that would enjoy it.
Orias_Obderhode
1387
If you have fun not only playing the game, but making it, it is worth your time to develop/release it.
When it becomes a chore moreso than it is fun, it is not worth it in my opinion.
When it becomes a chore moreso than it is fun, it is not worth it in my opinion.
author=Orias_ObderhodeYes, but all project inevitably run into a period where it IS a chore to complete it, but you have to push through it because the feeling of completing a game is oh-so-sweeeet. I am addicted to that. To the glory of releasing a game.
If you have fun not only playing the game, but making it, it is worth your time to develop/release it.
When it becomes a chore moreso than it is fun, it is not worth it in my opinion.
..which is why I am in withdrawal because I can't seem to make time for game making. It is slowly killing me.
I also find Game Making more satisfying than Game Playing, because in my mind it makes me feel clever and important.
What makes a game worth making? A cure for your own boredom or the thought that it can turn a profit.
The fun of coding/creating everything, coming up with the characters and story, and ultimately releasing it in a thoroughly bug-tested form.
author=kentona
I also find Game Making more satisfying than Game Playing, because in my mind it makes me feel clever and important.
This too. I want to be highly esteemed by my peers and I do stupid things like make entire games to make me seem better than them.
But on a more serious point, I just see games in my head that I want to play but have never been made, then I say to myself, "Why not make that game?"
Might add that it combines two great loves of mine ( writing and artistic purpose ) into one medium. And yeah, agree with Cash and kenton; making games is far more enjoyable than playing them ( probably explains why I haven't finished an RPG since... 2009, when I came across the Maker ). ><
Ashes of Emerald
2573
Fair enough, thanks everyone for all of your feedback, I feel very much the same way, but as I move into developing my next title, I'm finding myself conflicted. SO, like always, I love hearing feedback. On a side note, how do you feel about games with choices that matter? Not the kind that mean nothing and you just choose your ending at the very last scene of the game, but the kind in the game that affect the ending, the game play and possibly, if not played intellectually, could rob the player of the perfect ending and the most impactful experience. I'm on the fence with this. I want to do the ladder, thus further empowering the choices, gameplay and over all replay-ability, but I feel for a game that is more story focused, it could potentially ruin the game for less mindful and skilled players.
EDIT:
The same could be said for difficulty. Should the puzzles be more challenging, complex or the opposite. I mean, what is the point of having fantastic and unique mechanics if they can't be put to good use. I feel this is the classic survival horror problem. Balance. You can't make it too easy or it's no fun and not scary but you still have to have things rationed so that it creates tension, but then if the player struggles from lack of understanding or at the hands of poor design, then they can't proceed. Sometimes having to start all over again and I don't feel that's how games should be. Then there's the problem of mortality. You have to be able to die, and fairly easily (without being cheap, example being from the chainsaw guy(Dr. Salvator) in re4) in order to invoke fear, but the real adrenaline rush comes from the narrow escape. I'm stumped and I'd appreciate any feedback or direction based on opinion or experience. :)
EDIT:
The same could be said for difficulty. Should the puzzles be more challenging, complex or the opposite. I mean, what is the point of having fantastic and unique mechanics if they can't be put to good use. I feel this is the classic survival horror problem. Balance. You can't make it too easy or it's no fun and not scary but you still have to have things rationed so that it creates tension, but then if the player struggles from lack of understanding or at the hands of poor design, then they can't proceed. Sometimes having to start all over again and I don't feel that's how games should be. Then there's the problem of mortality. You have to be able to die, and fairly easily (without being cheap, example being from the chainsaw guy(Dr. Salvator) in re4) in order to invoke fear, but the real adrenaline rush comes from the narrow escape. I'm stumped and I'd appreciate any feedback or direction based on opinion or experience. :)
A game's worth making if I can't forget about it. If a game concept constantly haunts me, it needs making to I can put it to rest instead of staying up all night making spreadsheets.
accha
1260
When it comes down to it, I think a game is worth making and playing if it presents new experiences that make people see games (and their features) in a new or different light. Innovative mechanics, entertaining twists, or even fresh perspectives on old stuff. Developing your specific game should also develop the nature of games as a whole. Or at least that's my over-romanticized and dramatized view of it.
@Ashes of Emerald, I'd think a game where your choices actually matter is more fun and engaging than one where nothing you do will change the game. As long as it's very clear (or seemingly clear) where each choice will lead the player it should make for an interesting experience... Not to say it should be something clear cut always-good or always-bad; just don't put vague bullshit choices that people don't understand.
Your game will have more drama and be more mentally intense this way, and yes it is true there will be people who don't get any of it. At. All. But for the people who DO get it, the game will stand apart as something (hopefully) greater. It comes down to this: do you want a basic experience for everyone, or do you want a mind-blowing experience for some but not all?
As for horror puzzle difficulty, from what I've observed puzzles are scariest when you quickly know HOW to solve it-- but the way to solve it involves a lot of danger, risk-taking, or squick. Have clear objectives, basically. If players are stuck scratching their heads and not knowing how to proceed they usually just end up getting frustrated instead of scared.
@Ashes of Emerald, I'd think a game where your choices actually matter is more fun and engaging than one where nothing you do will change the game. As long as it's very clear (or seemingly clear) where each choice will lead the player it should make for an interesting experience... Not to say it should be something clear cut always-good or always-bad; just don't put vague bullshit choices that people don't understand.
Your game will have more drama and be more mentally intense this way, and yes it is true there will be people who don't get any of it. At. All. But for the people who DO get it, the game will stand apart as something (hopefully) greater. It comes down to this: do you want a basic experience for everyone, or do you want a mind-blowing experience for some but not all?
As for horror puzzle difficulty, from what I've observed puzzles are scariest when you quickly know HOW to solve it-- but the way to solve it involves a lot of danger, risk-taking, or squick. Have clear objectives, basically. If players are stuck scratching their heads and not knowing how to proceed they usually just end up getting frustrated instead of scared.
Ashes of Emerald
2573
author=LouisCyphre
A game's worth making if I can't forget about it. If a game concept constantly haunts me, it needs making to I can put it to rest instead of staying up all night making spreadsheets.
That been my most recent concept. It's haunted my imagination for a couple of years now.
author=accha
When it comes down to it, I think a game is worth making and playing if it presents new experiences that make people see games (and their features) in a new or different light. Innovative mechanics, entertaining twists, or even fresh perspectives on old stuff. Developing your specific game should also develop the nature of games as a whole. Or at least that's my over-romanticized and dramatized view of it.
@Ashes of Emerald, I'd think a game where your choices actually matter is more fun and engaging than one where nothing you do will change the game. As long as it's very clear (or seemingly clear) where each choice will lead the player it should make for an interesting experience... Not to say it should be something clear cut always-good or always-bad; just don't put vague bullshit choices that people don't understand.
Your game will have more drama and be more mentally intense this way, and yes it is true there will be people who don't get any of it. At. All. But for the people who DO get it, the game will stand apart as something (hopefully) greater. It comes down to this: do you want a basic experience for everyone, or do you want a mind-blowing experience for some but not all?
As for horror puzzle difficulty, from what I've observed puzzles are scariest when you quickly know HOW to solve it-- but the way to solve it involves a lot of danger, risk-taking, or squick. Have clear objectives, basically. If players are stuck scratching their heads and not knowing how to proceed they usually just end up getting frustrated instead of scared.
Thank you, I feel this to be very excellent advice. I believe that you're right; I'd rather give the player an incredible experience that they crafted, than an average experience they just follow the motions of.
As for the puzzle design tips, that fantastic advice. I never thought about them in that light and it has brought much revelations to my current blueprints. Thanks.
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